


Judy Bernly’s Guide to Parenting and Lesbianism.

by trinasong



Category: 9 to 5 the Musical - Parton/Resnick
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Single Parents, and i love joanie, and violet, i hate dick, i love single mom judy, joanie asking awkward questions, violet is a supportive gf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 06:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19718194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinasong/pseuds/trinasong
Summary: judy has a 5 year old daughter, and she doesn’t mix her with violet. when violet mentions she wants to meet her daughter, chaos on judy’s half ensues. warning: it’s terribly sappy towards the end





	Judy Bernly’s Guide to Parenting and Lesbianism.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i simply HAD to write this one because i love love LOVE the concept. i love violet being supportive and judy being a good mother. they are in love. enjoy!

Judy Bernly planned on being a mother. She was going to marry, which she did. She had a child. Joanie. Her marriage wasn’t the smoothest, but she stayed because she had a husband, a daughter, and very functional family. ‘Very’ was operative.

Her divorce was filed just after Joanie turned 4. Happy Birthday to her. Judy cried, and she cried a lot. Never in front of her daughter, because she felt it wasn’t fair to do so. She was elated when she found out she was pregnant, but Dick seemed less than pleased. Maybe that’s where all of it began, and perhaps she just didn’t see that.

Dick didn’t want her the way she wanted him after Joanie came along. Work days got longer, and they didn’t talk very much. Judy was always the one awake at three when Joanie cried, and she was the one there when Joanie took her very first steps, or when she organised a party for her birthday when she’d been desperate for a big party all year.

So when the divorce rolled around, Judy clenched her jaw and wiped her eyes and marched into it with her four year old. Well, she stumbled, and she cried when she showered, but she got herself a job. 

—

Judy had been working steadily at Consolidated for a year and a few months. After everything that went down with Dick, she tried to lead a relatively normal life. Over that period, she’d gained some terrible, undeniable feelings for her coworker Violet Newstead. 

With Joanie, she never considered relationships. Certainly not a relationship with the woman she’d worked with for a year. The thought was terrifying, because all Judy ever wanted was a regular life. Not a woman and an occasionally difficult five year old.

Judy let the feelings grow, because she didn’t know how to stop that. She’d done everything she could’ve done to push it aside, because she had  _ never  _ been attracted to a woman. 

—

Violet Newstead had first kissed her drunkenly at the company’s New Years Eve party. Judy always imagined that she’d pull away. Every shameful time she’d let herself think of kissing Violet, she always comforted her sting by ending it with pulling away.

Except, when she  _ did _ kiss her at midnight, Judy only let herself wrap her arms around the taller of the two. And she wouldn’t change what she did for the world.

She’d been seeing Violet for 7 months. She knew all about Joanie, but they’d never met, and they rarely ever brought it up. Judy wondered if Violet just tried to ignore the fact that she had a daughter. That’s why Judy didn’t look into new people. They liked what they saw, and when they found she had a daughter, they ran for the hills. So she assumed Violet was enjoying the sex, and blanking the existence of Joanie.

If ever Judy couldn’t see Violet on a weekend, it was because she was with Joanie. Violet never questioned that. She only told them to enjoy. 

—

“Judes?” Violet piped up from the opposite end of the couch. She looked at Judy, who had her nose buried in a book. Saturday nights weren’t always like this. Judy just felt a little fluey. 

Judy tilted her cheek to Violet, but didn’t manage to pull her eyes away from the book she was reading. 

“Yes, Violet?”

“I want to meet your daughter.”

At that, Judy’s eyes were  _ instantly  _ torn from the book, and landed on Violet’s determined expression. 

They very rarely brought up Judy’s home life. Of course, Violet cared. She knew all about Dick, and she could’ve killed him for it. They were comfortable around each other, and they were very quite domestic. Save for the fact they didn’t live together. Sometimes the only thing Judy wanted was to go home to Violet, and be held by her.

Most nights consisted of coming home to a hyperactive five year old and a babysitter on the brink of a breakdown. Still, once she put Joanie to bed, she had a little bit of time to just  _ relax _ .

Sometimes she’d call Violet. She tried to stay as in touch as she could, because she was terrified of Violet finding someone who was doing laps around Judy. 

“You want to— _ oh.  _ Well—well, I suppose you could,” she stuttered.

Violet looked sketchy. “Unless you don’t want me to, that is.”

Judy quickly tossed aside her book, taking Violet’s hand. She didn’t think Violet would ever  _ want  _ to. It gave Judy hope for them.

“Of course I do. I would  _ love _ for you to, if I’m being one hundred percent honest, as it makes my own life so much easier, Violet, I don’t think you unders—“

Violet pulled her into a kiss, trying to soothe her sudden bout of anxiety. She pulled back, caressing her cheek lightly. 

“Then that’s finished. I’ll drop by your place next weekend,” she said coolly, and that seemed to surprise Judy greatly.

She couldn’t mask the visible joy on her face as she discarded the book, shifting closer to Violet and resting her head on her chest. Violet tilted back her head, toying with loose strands of Judy’s hair. This would work out just fine.

—

Judy had been fussing over the house all day. Violet rarely ever stayed with her. Of course, she’d been  _ in  _ her house, and they’d had dinner, but Judy’s stress levels were skyrocketing.

Joanie was clinging to her like a leech, idly talking about something she’d watched on TV. Judy picked her up, setting her on the counter and fixing her braids. 

“Joanie, please behave for momma,” Judy said lightly as her daughter fiddled with the bow in her hair.

“Why?”

Judy smoothed out her skirt. “Because I have a very important friend coming over.”

“Why?”

“Because she wants to meet you, dear.”

“Why?”

“Joanie—“

She was cut off by the doorbell, and felt her heart pound at her ribs. She had absolutely no reason to be so worried. Violet wanted this, and she wanted Judy. Yet Judy was a mess, setting Joanie on the floor and walking to the door with her 5 year old in pursuit

—

As the door opened, Violet flashed Judy a smile. The smile that never failed to make Judy weak at the knees. The taller of the two then leaned in to kiss Judy, much to her surprise.

The way five year olds do, Joanie came out with a disgusted noise at the sight of the two of them kissing. Judy pulled back with a blush, and the fear that Joanie had already thrown Violet off with that starting to dwell in her stomach.

Violet smirked down at Joanie, raising an eyebrow. 

“Your momma used to do that when I kissed her, too,” she said amusedly, looking back up at a still blushing Judy.

She stepped aside, allowing Violet in and taking her jacket in a flustered whirl. Joanie just looked up at her in awe, head tilted.

“Don’t stare, Joan,” Judy said quietly as she mouthed an apology to Violet. 

“She’s tall, momma,” Joan said in a childlike exaggerated whisper, and Judy cringed, looking askance.

“About five times your height, kid,” Violet said with a smile as she rolled up her sleeves. Thank god she was handling it well. Judy would faint if she didn’t. Or cry. Or both. 

“Are you her husband?”

“Wife, Joanie— _ no,  _ she isn’t my wife either,” Judy said, stumbling as she blushed deeply.

“Girls can get wives? Is she gonna be?”

Judy wanted the ground to swallow her up. Well and truly. The questions were so awkward, and she completely blanked when it came to stopping her.

“Eh, you never know,” Violet replied with a smirk, avoiding Judy’s eyes. “But if you want a wife, you can have a wife.”

—

Judy settled Joanie down on the couch with apple juice and a cupcake. She rubbed her arm consciously as she watched her sitting quite content. God, this was so stressful.

Violet put her arm around Judy, pulling her close to her and squeezing her hip fondly. Judy turned to her with a shaky smile, fingers grazing her collarbone.

Joanie watched them with naive interest. “Do you love her, momma?”

Judy blushed, stuttering. Of course she did. She’d told Violet she’d loved her a hundred and one times. On a Sunday, and in her office when it was quiet, and after Violet had given her the most earth shattering org— _ well, let’s say she’d told her. _

“Well—well, yes I do. I suppose. No, I do. I do love her, Joan. Very much,” she said, more to herself than to Joanie.

“Eww!” Joanie giggled.

That snapped Judy out of her overly-romanced haze, and her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. 

“You’ll learn one day, kid,” Violet said, kissing Judy’s temple. Violet’s heart melted at the way that Judy became so flustered when she talked about her feelings for her. She wanted to hold her forever.

—

“Say, I’ll put on a movie,” Judy said, breaking the silence and standing up from where she was sitting tensely in Violet’s embrace.

Violet moved her arm, looking puzzled by her restlessness. Judy was terrified that Violet would come to the conclusion that she definitely shouldn’t be with somebody who had a child. Especially a child like Joanie.

Judy fumbled with the remote, almost dropping it with trembling hands. Violet recognised that this absolutely wasn’t a good sign when it came to Judy.

Any time her hands trembled meant that she hadn’t taken her meds, or she was about to break. Violet instantly stood up, taking the remote from her and setting up the movie.

“Joanie, your mom and I are gonna make some popcorn. Wait here, kiddo,” Violet said slowly, ushering Judy to kitchen and closing the door almost fully.

—

Judy looked up at Violet tearily, lip trembling. All of this had been so stressful. All she was doing was introducing her child to her girlfriend, but now that she’d connected the two, it felt like everything she’d tried to keep down was thrown in her face. 

It struck her that she never mentioned Joanie to Violet because they were two separate parts of her life. Joan was what she clung to. She was the last piece of the normal life she had. The last part of acceptance from her family, the last part of her marriage. Of her regular lifestyle. Then there was Violet. Violet, who was the taboo, and the sex, and the sin, and the love and passion and everything she didn’t have before. Mixing them was like a flame to gasoline.

She wrapped her arms around Violet, screwing her eyes shut. Violet, who hadn’t a clue what to expect from Judy, held her close. Violet’s lips grazed Judy’s ear.

“I love you, Judy. Don’t forget it,” she said quietly, hand cradling Judy’s head to her chest.

The younger pulled back, nodding to herself. “Violet, if this isn’t what you want, I understand that. It’s enough to deal with a...partner, especially with the amount of work you do—“

Violet cut her off by holding her lover’s face in her hands. 

“Judy, I want you to listen to me. I love you. I love you, and I do not give a fuck if you have a five year old. That doesn’t change what I feel for you. If I’m going to be in your life as your lover, girlfriend, partner, or whatever you want to call it, then Joanie is just as much my responsibility as she is yours.”

—

Judy had stood there, lips parted as Violet spoke. The nature of what she felt for Violet at that moment made her head feel fuzzy.

She kissed her lovingly, both her small hands resting on either side of Violet’s face. Violet stroked her hair tenderly and pulled back after a minute or so.

“You amaze me, Violet,” she said in a quiet voice, managing to look right in her eyes. Judy brushed her thumb over her lover’s defined cheekbone. “I love you. And I love you with...with my whole heart,” she added with a stutter.

Violet tilted her cheek to kiss Judy’s palm. “I’ll go sit with her, kiddo. If you need help, call me in,” she said, smiling softly as she walked out of the kitchen.

—

Judy put her hand over her mouth, sniffling slightly. Violet was so good to her. Violet was nothing like Dick. She cared for her, and she made an effort, and she held her, and told her she was beautiful (even when she was less than), and cared for her when she was sick, and rubbed her shoulders when she was tense, and praised her body and showed her what a relationship was truly like. Violet had more love in her little finger than he had in his whole body, and she was so graced by that.

It took her five minutes or so to calm herself down, never mind start on food for them. She mindlessly made popcorn, and drinks. Judy felt a hell of a lot lighter than she had before.

This feeling only heightened as she walked back to the living room and was greeted with the sight of Joanie curled up in Violet’s arms. She damn near broke down then and there, because she had never been so certain that Violet was the one.

Violet looked up at her, offering a firm and genuine half-smile. The kind of smile that let Judy run from her problems as fast as her legs would take her.

Violet was  _ the one.  _

She could see it already. If Violet got her skates on, they could be married. Spend Saturdays like this. Joanie and Violet could have a real mother-daughter relationship. The thought made her head spin. All she’d ever wanted is for somebody to love Joanie as much as she loved her, and she was certain Violet could be that person.

The way Violet looked at Judy made her think she’d hung the moon and stars. 

And so Judy sat down beside them, maybe still teary. She kissed Joanie’s head gently, and took her lover’s hand as she tuned in to the faint lull of ‘ _ A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes’. _

**Author's Note:**

> thank you dearly for reading!  
> feedback is absolutely appreciated and loved <3  
> my tumblrs are dotseurats and brandonjblock !


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